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Bill Morneau's latest economic update is a total write-off. Which is exactly what he intended.

The finance minister responded to Donald Trump's corporate tax changes, introduced last December, by announcing Canadian businesses will be able to deduct, immediately, the full cost of any investments in new equipment for manufacturing and clean technology.

It's at least part of what companies in this country have been demanding ever since the U.S. president rolled out massive corporate tax cuts dropping the rate from 35 per cent to 21 per cent — in the process, effectively eliminating Canada's tax advantage.

Instead, he's giving Canadian business access to billions of dollars in new federal revenues as an incentive to expand and invest in this country, arguing it's the right policy despite the $17.6 billion price tag and the swelling budget deficit.

"The economy is doing better than most Canadians would have thought," Morneau told CBC News. "So seventeen and a half billion dollars to grow the economy is pretty significant. The commitment is to create jobs, to invest for the future."

So far, the Trump tax cuts appear to have been used mostly to reward shareholders with higher dividends instead of creating jobs. These investment write-offs require that the money be spent to improve productivity, generating employment as a result.

The real question is why Morneau is prepared to take the federal government even deeper into debt to accomplish this feat.

'Neither a rational response nor a responsible one'
At three per cent, Canada's economic growth in 2017 led all the G7 countries. The forecast for the next five years isn't quite as rosy, but it's still robust. Job creation is up. Wages are also going up at their fastest pace in nearly a decade, contributing to strong growth in income tax revenues.

And when it's compared to the $1.5 trillion deficit being run by the Trump administration, Canada's deficit looks like peanuts — even though it breaks the Liberals' campaign promise in 2015 to limit deficits to $10 billion in each of the first three years, and to return to balance in 2019.

"We could have ignored the concerns of business leaders, decided not to make the investments and the changes that are part of the fall economic statement, and we would have had a lower deficit as a result," Morneau said in his speech to the Commons.

"To do so would be neither a rational response nor a responsible one. We know that if we give Canadian businesses more opportunities to succeed and grow, they will do just that."

So far, the Trump tax cuts appear to have been used mostly to reward shareholders with higher dividends instead of creating jobs. These investment write-offs require that the money be spent to improve productivity, generating employment as a result.

The real question is why Morneau is prepared to take the federal government even deeper into debt to accomplish this feat.

'Neither a rational response nor a responsible one'
At three per cent, Canada's economic growth in 2017 led all the G7 countries. The forecast for the next five years isn't quite as rosy, but it's still robust. Job creation is up. Wages are also going up at their fastest pace in nearly a decade, contributing to strong growth in income tax revenues.

And when it's compared to the $1.5 trillion deficit being run by the Trump administration, Canada's deficit looks like peanuts — even though it breaks the Liberals' campaign promise in 2015 to limit deficits to $10 billion in each of the first three years, and to return to balance in 2019.

"We could have ignored the concerns of business leaders, decided not to make the investments and the changes that are part of the fall economic statement, and we would have had a lower deficit as a result," Morneau said in his speech to the Commons.

"To do so would be neither a rational response nor a responsible one. We know that if we give Canadian businesses more opportunities to succeed and grow, they will do just that."

The RCMP have been investigating former Liberal MP Raj Grewalfor months, analyzing millions of dollars in transactions and at times tracking his movements, federal sources say. He resigned last week from the Liberal caucus and his seat of Brampton East.

There has been growing interest by law-enforcement authorities into his gambling activities, according to sources who were granted anonymity by The Globe and Mail. They said Mr. Grewal spent millions of dollars in total in the past three years, including at the Casino du Lac-Leamy, across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill.

A heavily redacted report released on Monday found that the RCMP failed to transmit information about Jaspal Atwal and his criminal record throughout the police force and to other relevant agencies before the first event in India that he was invited to by the Prime Minister’s Office. The report said RCMP officials went over the invitations and became aware of Mr. Atwal’s criminal record, but did not notify their team on the ground in India. Mr. Atwal, a B.C. man convicted of trying to kill an Indian cabinet minister in 1986, attended the first event on Feb. 20, but his invitation was rescinded for the second event. The report said there was no systematic vetting of the guest list

Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency, came under fire Wednesday from Ontario's auditor general, whose latest report details delays and cost overruns in the hundreds of millions of dollars due to late changes in plans for light-rail transit projects, and allegations of political influence over decision-making about the placement of new GO Transit stations.

"After certain projects were announced or agreed on, the provincial and municipal governments changed their decisions on what to build and when to build, even though significant investments had already been made," Lysyk said Wednesday after her report was tabled in the legislature.

She cited Toronto's Scarborough subway project as an example, with plans changing three times between 2011 and 2013. The city is still in the early planning stages of building a multibillion-dollar one-stop subway extension, although Premier Doug Ford has expressed a preference to build a three-stop version of the line.

The Sheppard light-rail project was also highlighted, with its 10-year delay beyond the initial expected completion date of 2013. These projects added up to some $125 million in "sunk costs, with $75 million to be recovered by the City of Toronto," Lysyk said.

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk unveiled the findings during a news conference at Queen's Park. Her office conducted audits of 15 provincial departments and programs.

According to Lysyk, Metrolinx, which controls regional transit across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area, incurred about $436 million "in sunk and additional" — unrecoverable — costs between 2009 and 2018 due to changes in transit planning over the last decade, and problems with how the agency itself is doing its work.

She also cited Metrolinx's decision to sign what's called an Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP) contract with the consortium tasked with building Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown LRT. Such contracts typically include a premium for the private-sector partners assuming the risks of cost overruns and delays. But according to Lysyk, under this contract, Metrolinx had to pay the consortium $237 million in 2018 to ensure the project still meets its September 2021 target date.

Meanwhile, Lysyk also took exception with how Metrolinx decided to recommend two new GO Transit stations after first recommending against them.

Metrolinx's initial assessment concluded that the associated costs and "disadvantages" of the Kirby and Lawrence East stations "significantly" outweighed their benefits and should not be recommended for construction for another 10 years.

But in 2016, "Metrolinx overrode that conclusion because the then-minister of transportation (Liberal Steven Del Duca) and City of Toronto made it clear they wanted these stations," Lysyk said.

In her comments, Lysyk said Metrolinx "undermined its own decision-making process and inappropriately changed its recommendations on the Kirby and Lawrence East stations." She pinned the blame on "influence" by Del Duca and the city.

Safety agency, Waterfront Toronto criticized

Other findings of the auditor general's report include:

The Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA), which is tasked with enforcing the safe maintenance and handling of everything from fuels and boilers to elevators and ski lifts, "is not operating in accordance with its mandate and is ineffective in protecting the public in nearly all of the areas for which it is responsible."

Waterfront Toronto, created in 2002 to oversee the development of the city's waterfront, has only directly developed some five per cent of publicly owned waterfront land deemed "developable," and has provided help to other agencies to develop another 151 acres (14 per cent).

The Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) has seen an increase in those receiving grants and aid of about 25 per cent, but post-secondary enrolment has only grown by about two per cent.

Ontario Works, which provided financial help to about 250,000 unemployed or underemployed Ontarians in 2017/18, helped only 10-13 per cent of clients find work in each of the last five years. The average length of time that clients received benefits rose from 19 months in 2008/09 to nearly three years in 2017/18.

Ontario's Assisted Devices Program, which supplies things like mobility equipment and hearing aids to about 400,000 people, spent $514 million in 2017/18. While the program has made improvements to service delivery since its last audit in 2009, "efforts to improve oversight by identifying ineligible claims remain inadequate," as do efforts to ensure vendors are being paid reasonable prices for devices.

Lysyk's office also looked at the refurbishment of the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, and found that Ontario Power Generation (OPG) "has put a clear accountability structure in place" to monitor the work and ensure it comes in on time and on budget. However, the project faces "significant risks," including a potential shortage of skilled tradespeople, that could affect both, she said.

Darlington, one of the province's two nuclear stations, began operating in 1990 with four reactor units that are nearing the end of their working life. The facility provides Ontario with about 15 per cent of its electricity. The refurbishment project is estimated to be completed by 2026 and carries a price tag of $12.8 billion. The work will extend the life of the units to about 2055.

Issues that could lead to delays and cost overruns include stiff competition for skilled tradespeople during years when the refurbishment work will overlap with similar work at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, Lysyk said. There are also concerns that the OPG has had to provide more assistance to contractors that initially planned, and those costs have yet to be factored into the profit that to be paid to the contractors.